Monday, 14 November 2016

Why are Sherpas born mountaineers?

Among
Nature's innumerable awe-inspiring creations, the mountains and the tall peaks have fascinated the humans for centuries. Hence the American native Indians, Asian Indians, Sherpas and others even today associate them with divinity and revere them. The Hindus
consider the peak Mt. Kailash (according to the Hindu mythology) the abode of God Shiva. Ancient Greeks revered Mt. Olympus. There is no dearth of stories of superstitions about mountains in many cultures. Mt.
Everest, the tallest peak in the world and part of the Himalayan
mountain chain is a natural wonder, considering its sheer size and height, piercing into the sky. Geologically speaking, the Himalayan mountains are young and were formed
in the last orogeny - mountain building activities and are still slowly growing.

In 1492, Antoine de Ville, of France made the first ascent on the Mont Aiguille, in France, with a small
team, using ladders and ropes. It is believed to be the first recorded
climb of any technical difficulty, and it marks the
beginning of mountaineering.

In 1573 Francesco De Marchi and
Francesco Di Domenico scaled Corno Grande, the highest peak in the
Apennine Mountains. In 1760, Mont Blanc in France was climbed. Mont Blanc in France, was climbed in 1786. In 1854, one Sir Alfred Wills made mountaineering popular in Britain and in 1857, Alpine Club was formed and by the early 19th century many of the alpine peaks were scaled. The first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865 led by the English illustrator, Edward Whympermet ended with tragedy as four members of the team fell to their deaths.

In the 1800s mountaineering in North America, became popular. Pikes Peak (14,410 ft (4,390 m)) in the Colorado Rockies, was first climbed by Edwin James and two others in 1820. Heavily glaciated Fremont Peak (13,745 ft (4,189 m)) in Wyoming was summitted by John C. Frémont and two others in 1842. Later several peaks in the Americas were climbed by the
mountaineers, despite inadequate gear.

It was during
the colonial period in the Indian sub continent, serious steps were taken to measure the exact height
of Mt. Everest under Surveyor General George Everest. Final Geodetic
surveys established that Mt. Everest was the tallest peak in the world.

The term mountaineering is a form of sports involving climbing to reach the highest point,hiking and also skiing. Commonly it involves rock climbing, as well as crossing glaciers. Mountaineering has three special areas - rock-craft, snow-craft, and skiing, depending on whether the route chosen is over rock, snow or ice. It is a risky sport that needs experience, athletic ability, mental agility and technical knowledge to maintain safety under adverse weather conditions.

In British India several trained European mountaineers made futile attempt to scale Mt. Everest because of several hazards and lack of safe mountain gear. No body could forget George Mallory and his partner Andrew Irvin who disappeared near the summit in 1924. After the first
ascent on the peak by Eumund Hillary and Sherpa Tensing Norgay in 1953, innumerable
expeditions have been made by teams from many countries. Women also made
their foray decades ago and several world records have been made by the
enterprising mountaineers. thanks to the use of modern mountaineering gear.The
expeditions to Mt. Everest were made possible for the foreign
mountaineers by the Sherpas - an ethnic group native to Nepal. They also
live in Bhutan and Tibet. They have amazing mountaineering skills
because of their centuries-long association with tall mountains. World
over, none of the ethic groups have this kind of skill and dexterity as the Sherpas
have. Hence, Sherpas not only act a guides but also as porters to transport prospective climbers gear up hill. Surprisingly, they have tremendous
endurance and stamina to leap around at higher altitudes near the snow
line with minimum available oxygen. Invariably, they are the ones who lead the party of mountaineers
to set the route for them, taking all kinds of risks. They excel in the art of mountain climbing and
no body is a match for them. Their
expertise for foreign climbers is quite indispensable as they
naturally have better physical endurance and stamina than others to tolerate oxygen
poor environs at higher elevation.

What is the reason behind their natural tolerance and ability? what are biological secrets that make Sherpas the best mountaineers? Obviously, there are some biological reasons behind natural climbing ability.

Mount
Everest is the ultimate testing ground for adventurers to stretch their limits of human endurance in an oxygen - starved atmosphere. Being
the tallest peak in the world at 8,847 meters above sea level, low
oxygen at that altitude is major hurdle for the mountaineers. But, it is not for the Sherpas who, on the high mountains, tolerate such low levels of oxygen with ease, a trait that keeps them apart from others.

Xtreme research team conducting experiments at the base camp, Mt. Everest. edition.cnn.com

It was
in 2013, the 'Xtreme Everest' research team led by Denny Levett, a consultant at Southampton hospital and a founding member of the team conducted medical experiments on
Sherpas and other volunteers at high altitudes to figure out the reasons
behind Sherpas' ability to thrive at such heights. The aim was to know more about hypoxia -- a situation when not adequate oxygen reaches
the body's organs -- a condition that affects many intensive care
patients.

The study was conducted in the research lab set up at the base camp of Mt. Everest and was based on the various tests carried out, using 180 volunteers that included 116 healthy
volunteers living in low land locations and 64 Sherpas, during and after a climb to Everest base camp. The volunteers were subject to further tests at 3400 level and above 5000 meter levels above MSL.

The following are the conclusions made by the researchers:

01. The secret
behind this ability lies in their cells; The Sherpas have unique mitochondria - human cells that respire to give energy; this means they use oxygen very efficiently. So, their inherent ability lies in their cells and their mitochondria were much more
efficient at using oxygen at higher levels.

02. Regarding genetic reasons behind the Sherpas' adaptations to high altitudes, we have to take inference from Darwin's theory of natural selection and adaptation. For centuries, they have adapted to living on the high mountains, so breathing comes easily for them in the thin air.

03. With Oxygen
levels at its summit just one third of those found at sea level,
according to Levett, fewer than 6% of humans are capable of making the
climb without supplementary oxygen.

04. Altitude sickness will set in at higher levels. When non-Sherpa climbers reach 3500 meters, following morning, they may feel sick or have fever or hang over. Sherpas do not experience this because of adaptation and better survival at high altitude.

05. The Sherpas' mitochondria function more effectively at different higher elevations. They get more energy for less oxygen in-take, unlike us. Among non-Sherpas, this adjustment was not noticeable.

06. Yet another important factor is micro-circulation - blood circulation that occurs in
the smallest blood vessels and determines how well oxygen reaches
muscles, tissues and organs. Sherpas have normal micro blood circulation, whereas others do not have good circulation within the small veins.

07.When blood flows easily through small veins more oxygen gets to the tissues and it maintains the energy efficiency of mountain climbers. Chris Imray,
professor of Vascular and Renal transplant surgery at University
Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire gives importance to the value of blood flow through small veins.08. At higher elevation increase in blood flow in the brain caused by low oxygen level may lead to swelling as blood fails to drain out as fast as it goes in.

09. Sherpas' amazing physiology and its adjustments on higher mountains is a subject of great medical interest and will be of use to mankind in the near future..

Tit-Bits - Some records made by the Nepalese:

a. Apa Sherpa holds the world record for most successful climbs on Mount Everest with 21 ascents. Sherpa, Phurba Tashi, is the
other joint record holder.

Lables

About

I am KN.Jayaraman, Retd Geologist, author of this blog. I have a strong passion for Ancient Indian Culture, art, architecture, etc...
I started this blog with a view to covering the above areas and also odd things related to India.
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